1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to printers and printing methods.
2. Discussion of the Background
Printing methods are known that use a plurality of printing passes, for example, as set forth in JP2003-145731 and JP2006-110750. In one such printing method, a print head is used for printing on a printing zone including a plurality of printing passes, and a feeding action of feeding a medium for a distance corresponding to a swath width equal to the printing pass and a printing action of printing on the medium, while moving the print head for scanning in the width direction, are repeated.
However, in such printers, there may be errors in the feeding distance of the medium and in the scanning width of the print head. If there is an error, due to the use of a plurality of printing passes for printing, some printing passes may be overlapped with each other or clearances may be formed between them, thus resulting in the formation of “banding” areas where the printing passes appear to form stripes. However, if the banding is noticeable, it may be impossible to obtain a desired printing quality. Therefore, there is a need for a printer and printing method that uses a plurality of printing passes, but does not produce noticeable banding.